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Desert Force MMA Championship Finale in Amman

The 26 of January has been one hectic day, my favorite kind. I had two meetings, one interview and a call from my friend the Brazilian Jujitsu young Instructor Sanad Assaf inviting me to Desert Force MMA Championship Finale.

I admit that I’m not a fighter kind of girl, not physically anyway but I do love a good fight and this event brought in me a cheering monster of a sort. I told him I’m in, met up with him and got my entrance ticket.

In the day of the event I had a LONG meeting which made me feel kind of sick and carry around a horrible headache, I forced myself to go and I enjoyed every minute of it, especially after meeting the beautiful wife of my boxing coach Mohammed Abu Khadija, Maha who was my partner in watching this event!

The moment I reached the stadium a sense of excitement and anticipation filled me slowly, kicking out all the weariness of the day, and my headache started to subside gradually. The lights were on, colorful in a mysterious way, flickering into circle of lights, designed to attract the viewers eyes to a certain point, the MBC Action logo and TV crew was everywhere vibrating like bees, and muscled eye-candy guys were collecting rabidly across the stadium buzzing excitedly waiting for the announcer to start blasting those microphones and speakers! Snacks vendors were around and sodas and light food was filling people’s hands and mouths.

I felt awkward, everyone knew exactly where to sit, according to the colored paper bracelets, and everyone was a fan of the game… I was the first girl to arrive, the crowds were from the male gender and I didn’t feel like sitting beside them. They looked so macho.

God saved me when I saw my coach approach me and shake my hand, he laughed and asked me what was I doing here, I wanted to answer “I have no idea!” but I told him about my blog and social media work, he introduced his wife and told her to chat with me while he saluted some of his friends and fans.

Maha and I sat and started talking, and like magic, we fit perfectly, I liked her instantly and it was nice to see the feeling was mutual. Suddenly while we were talking and laughing, the coach came and surprised me by extending his VIP seating with me.

I followed though I tried to tell him I’m blue (medium), but he insisted saying he didn’t want his wife to feel lonely. When we entered the VIP seating, goosebumps ran across my body… these were the BEST seats in the whole event! I looked at them shocked, unsure of myself, they smiled and encouraged me to pick a seat. I sat and Maha sat right beside me. Some of my friends arrived and were shocked by how I managed to get those seats! I told them: luck.

The coach left us and an angry usher came rushing in telling us that these seats were VIP only, we were ready to move when a guy came and told the usher that Maha was coach’s Mohammed Abu Khadija wife and I’m their friend. The usher despaired and reappeared apologizing most hardheartedly!

Coach Mohammed returned and introduced his friend, another champion and some of his students. They sat behind us and chat as we were doing.

Suddenly, the lights changed and Mohammad Al Housani‘s voice pierced the speakers and the TV screens changed announcing the beginning of the Desert Force Finale.

The atmosphere, the screams, made me bubble inside, I began to enter the crowds mood and Maha explained some rules to me, suddenly I stood on feet screaming with the rest, laughing, hiding my face with my feelings all over the place. I picked my favorites and rotted for them. Most of the players were from Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, others were from Spain, Syria and Morocco.

At 10:00 pm the live streaming to actual TV began and let me tell you this, I went deaf with all the screaming from myself and others! One of the three females in the event was a Lebanese presenter Sabine Sassine and our own boxing champion miss Arifa Bseiso, and a girl who holds numbers through each part in the fights.

The fights got even more intense when they involved a Jordanian fighter verses a Lebanese one, the crew was from Lebanon so they went nuts cheering, but the whole auditorium was almost Jordanian, so… you do the math! It was a bloody business. But the thing that was shameful, is that the Jordanian fighter actual bit the Lebanese fighter against him, it was really not professional.

One of the moment I actually freaked out was in the beginning when I fighter hit another in the head and the guy stopped moving, the stopped him from killing him, yet the guy lay there still, my heart stopped, all the blood left my face, I couldn’t believe the brutality of the whole thing. I wish I could remember some names but there wasn’t a brochure or something.

And another thing that sucked bad, is my mobile, and my extra mobile and my iPod dying on me! I couldn’t photograph as much as I wanted to! Getting a professional camera is a must right now!

The event was over around 1:00 am. Yup! If you ask me if I would do it again, the answer is HELL YES! I LOVED the feeling and even though I couldn’t talk much the next day it filled me with a buzz of excitement. Can’t wait for the next time!

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Dana Al-Basha is a writer and blogger, currently residing in Kuwait with a graphic design degree; born in the Year of the Tiger. She's a Leo, humanitarian, foodie, artist, swimmer, reader and a deep thinker.